Cultural identity and the social adjustment and academic adjustment of African American college students

Studies on cultural identity, social adjustment, and academic adjustment among African American have yielded equivocal results. This research has focused, to varying degrees, on factors influencing the success of African-American college students who attend Predominantly White Colleges and Universities (PWCU's) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's). The purpose of the present study is to examine, more specifically, the effect of cultural identity on African American college students' academic adjustment and social adjustment. Specific hypotheses in the dissertation include, (1) students attending an HBCU will have higher levels of cultural identity than students attending a PWCU, (2) all students with high levels of cultural identity will display successful social and academic adjustment, and (3) all students who are socially adjusted will have higher levels of academic adjustment than those who are not.;50 participants were administered the African American Acculturation Scale-Revised (AAA-R) and the Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ). The results revealed that students at PWCU's had significantly higher levels of cultural identity than HBCU students on three dimensions of the AAA-S. Overall, levels of cultural identity were not positively associated with adjustment as predicted and, on some dimensions, were actually negatively associated with adjustment. As predicted, social and academic adjustment were generally positively associated. These results suggest that individual factors and experiences influence adjustment to college more than cultural identity. Specific recommendations for college personnel working with African American students are made.